Escape Perfectionism: How to Write Your Best by Letting Go
Authors who love writing crave to create perfect books without flaws which could be ridiculed by the world. Slowly, this desire can grow into a high focus on an unreachable standard of perfection. However, when authors become perfectionistic, they undermine their beliefs and their writing skills. Good books will be imperfect because they are made by imperfect people. Christians understand that only God is perfect, and the works of human authors are bound to fall short of the perfect standards found in the Bible. Perfectionism, as a common feeling for those called to writing, can either be a tool or a roadblock. Christian writers must understand the danger of perfectionism and how to correctly aim for perfection so that they are equipped to harness perfectionism when it creeps into their writing.
How Perfectionism Affects Story Development
Perfectionism quickly becomes exhausting and discouraging, since authors will not be able to write a perfect book in their own power. Humans are fallen, and this fallenness extends into their creative works. Even when an author constantly aims to be perfect, he will make mistakes. Eventually, authors who focus too deeply on perfectionism will become discouraged as they repeatedly fail to achieve perfection in their books. Authors may give into believing they are unskilled, or feel their words are useless or pointless. If this discouragement grows great enough, authors might even coerce themselves into giving up writing, since they cannot write what they deem to be a good book.
Why Perfectionism is Harmful
When authors are overly focused on perfection, they might define perfection wrongly—by anything other than the truth—and may succeed in achieving what they deem to be perfection. This sort of perfectionism can harm authors’ beliefs by teaching a false view of their own skills. If an author achieves what they deem to be perfection, they can become self-idolizing of their skills and believe that they have the capability to redeem themselves and their works without God. This can extend out of the author’s presence as a writer and into their beliefs, leading the author to not see the necessity for God’s grace and be led into a belief in works-based salvation.
Perfectionism becomes counter productive as human authors, who cannot create perfect books apart from God’s grace, spend excessive time and energy forcing their books to fit a perfect mold. Eventually, when authors repeatedly fail to write perfect stories, they either give up entirely on working toward perfection or they become even more focused on creating the perfect book. Either of these forms of wrong perfectionistic focus become counter-productive to an author’s work. When authors give up on working toward creating a book which fits a perfect mold, but keep writing, their books tend to go the exact opposite direction. Authors give up, choosing to believe that there is no use in making a book perfect quality, and lean into the fact that it’s easier to not try. Quickly, their books will begin to lack the quality of ideas and techniques that make books entertaining and worthwhile.
Although the products of this perfectionism may seem obvious, since it involves abandoning perfection entirely, focusing too much on perfection is also counterproductive to writing quality. When writers focus on incorrect perfectionism, their intensity can drive them to smaller successes, since they focus deeply on one section before allowing themselves to proceed. While this becomes exhausting, making it harder to come up with error-free, captivating, and relatable stories. Authors’ works may become sterilized, so perfect that the story itself is unrelatable and unrealistic. Focusing too much on perfectionism, however, also impacts quality by removing grace for faults. Authors who put too high of focus on perfectionism quickly fall away from the fact that humans are fallen, and it is God’s grace and mercy that allows people to be redeemed. This aspect of grace may slip out of both writing and belief systems, allowing only for harsh judgement which does not represent God’s character.
Beneficial Perfectionism
Christian authors must understand that it is not bad to desire and pursue the right kind of perfection. Perfectionistic urges, when harnessed, can be a powerful tool in the author’s arsenal of techniques as they write. However, writers must have a correct standard of perfection to pursue in the first place. This standard comes from understanding true perfection: God. Authors must understand that the measure of perfection they seek to grow closer to is the standard of perfection placed by God in the Bible. Christian authors should not fear working toward perfection, but rater encourage themselves and others to pursue perfection for their works. However, writers should not encourage the pursuit of perfectionism when it leads away from truth. The Gospel, God’s Word, and God are perfect.
As an author attempts to truly represent God’s truth in writing, they work steadily toward perfection as they grow in their own understanding. Christian authors who desire to use perfectionism to encourage their writing must understand that to find perfection they must constantly look to the Bible and measure their ideas against the standards of God’s commands. Authors must also understand where a healthy level of focus on perfectionism lies—the line that balances mercy and justice. Authors must recognize that they should strive for perfection, always seeking to represent truth in their writing, but understand that they are human and cannot be perfect in their own power. Rather, authors must understand that the worth of their words lies in Christ and His grace.
Love for God and constant growth shines in Christian writing as Christian authors constantly desire and work to grow closer to God’s truth in their lives and writing. Often, this appears to authors as perfectionistic desires. Christian authors strive to create perfect works because their Creator is perfect. Authors desire to glorify God through creating works which shine His glory, and the perfection humans were originally created to be part of. Words reflect the heart, and the words Christian authors produce will constantly strive to be closer to the truth. Christian authors should admire perfection and strive to emulate it because they love God and His truth. In striving for perfection, however, Christian writers understand that God’s grace covers their faults. Christians don’t have to fear being overcome by the pressure to be perfect when they know they are covered by grace. Failure to make a book perfect to the Bible’s standard is to be expected and not feared or shamed. In Christ, Christians are freed from their sin and not condemned for their failures.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, ESV)
Mark 10:18 tells Christians that no one is good but God. Humans, then, are certainly not perfect and will constantly create works which do not reach the perfection of the Bible. However, Christians don’t have to fear being imperfect because they are covered in Christ’s blood. As Christians strive to represent the truth to the best of their abilities and honor God in all that they say, do, and write, Christians understand that Christ’s grace brings fruitfulness to their works and frees them from having to worry about their own failures (1 John 1:7). Understanding of Christ’s grace is what gives Christian authors their strength: the desire to pursue perfection, and the courage to be imperfect. Christians should constantly seek to set perfection as their standard and work toward achieving perfection in ideas, techniques, and storylines. However, when Christians make mistakes, their reaction must stay rooted in God’s grace, allowing them to have no fear of failure.
Christians, because of their love for God, will constantly strive to come closer to God and to better know the truth. Even when theyfail toreach perfection, they will continue to faithfully seek to represent God’s perfect truth and salvation of their lives and words.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:12, ESV)
Working toward perfection is a constant, something that Christian authors should constantly strive to reach, not something they must automatically have. Staying correctly focused even while searching to create perfection in writing makes the burden of writing for God light. Christians don’t need fear of imperfection to weigh them down, nor do they have to give up on creating books which display God’s perfection. The most important thing to remember is human faults glorify God by contrasting His perfection and making it easier to see.
Perfection and perfectionistic urges are good tools for Christian authors to keep in mind as they write. Writers must ensure they have correct standards of perfection. As long as Christian writers stay focused on what true perfection is—God and His Word and salvation—yet understand that their works will not be perfect in their own power, authors can use perfectionist desires to further their writing skills and bring readers to see the truth. For Christians, however, it is important to not become extremely focused on perfection and understand that an author’s own power will not reach the perfection of the Bible. While Christians can strive to write books which are free of fault and present God’s perfection to the best of their ability, they have no reason to be ashamed even when there are errors in their techniques and ideas. Humans are incapable of good works (Romans 7:18). In this, Christians authors realize that Christ is the reason their words can represent God and shine truth to their readers.
Pulling Perfectionism Together
Perfectionism is a driving motivation most authors feel at some point in their life. Christian authors want to create books which perfectly display God’s goodness and perfect character, and don’t want to settle for a book which is less than perfect. At some point, most authors will feel perfectionism creeping into their minds. Authors should know how to harness the perfectionist urges they receive so that they can use it to encourage their efforts to write for God with the best of their abilities but not get overwhelmed by mistakes they make while they write.
Throughout all their work, Christian authors must use perfectionism to enhance their abilities. To do this, they need to constantly meditate on perfection—God and His truth—and strive to represent this perfection while not punishing themselves because they cannot reach it. Christ’s grace covers errors and allows Christian authors to write truly worthwhile and wonderful books with beneficial ideas and entertaining storylines and characters. Christian authors do not need to be afraid of their failures. Christians should remember that even their failures bring glory to God. To Christians rooted in God’s salvation, there is no fear to be found in sin or imperfection.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)
